There’s a bit of a love/hate relationship between gays and the bench press. On one hand it’s such a typically “bro” piece of equipment that every guy who goes to your gym gravitates towards. On the other hand, there’s something undeniably satisfying about getting stronger and loading it up with more and more weight each week.
So if you’re benching to get strong, then that’s great. But if you’re benching because you want a pair of pecs that could cut glass, then your efforts are slightly misplaced.
The function of pectoral muscles
One of the major functions of the pectoral muscles is to adduct – bring together – your arms to the midline of your body. This adducting movement can’t really be achieved when bench pressing, since the bar keeps your hands fixed in place.
So while you’ll get some pectoral activation, the restricted movement omits a major function of the muscle, and so you won’t be working your pecs as much as you might think.
Compound movements
This isn’t to say that it’s bad to bench press, in fact we highly recommend it. With this one simple piece of equipment you’ll be performing compound movements, recruiting multiple muscle groups like your triceps, shoulders, core, and to some extent your legs. This is great when looking to build strength, burn fat, improve range of motion, and all that good stuff. But it’s not 100% effective at building bigger pecs if performed as a standalone exercise.
Spread your wings and flye
Fear not, for the solution is simple! If you want a nice rack, rack the bar and pick up some dumbbells.
Supersetting light chest flyes with your bench press will help you torch the muscle fibres in your pecs, allowing for a greater range of motion and much more definition than bench pressing alone.
Be sure to keep the weights light in order to get a good stretch at the bottom of the movement and a nice firm squeeze at the top.
Perform a set on the bench presses with a heavy weight on the barbell for 6 to 8 reps so as to overload the muscle. After the last rep, grab a pair of light dumbbells and perform a set of chest flyes – 12 to 15 reps each set.
Keep the tempo slow and controlled with tension in the muscle throughout. Rest for 2 minutes then repeat 3 or 4 times.
Too easy? You could always take it up a notch with a set of resisted push-ups after you’re finished on the bench. Using either bands or a weight vest, perform as many reps as possible (AMRAP), then remove the load and perform another set for AMRAPs.
Rest for 1 to 2 minutes, then repeat for once more if you can.
Tah dah! A pair of perfectly perky pecs to poke out of your tightest t-shirt.
Gay Personal Trainers
If you would still like some extra help achieving a pair of perfect pecs or anything else, why not check out our gay personal trainers. They can design a training and nutrition program to suit your individual needs, and be on hand to help coach you towards your goals.
Sharing is caring
If you found this article even slightly interesting, informative, funny, or ridiculous, then please give us a like, share, tweet, tumble, stumble, flip, or follow.
And you can also receive weekly workouts for free by subscribing to our newsletter. Happy gaying!